debase-nebulous

Start Studying!

Terms

undefined, object

copy deck

modicum: (n) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss's affair in front of the entire office.)
dispatch: (v) to send off to accomplish a duty (The carpenter dispatched his assistant to fetch wood.)
incendiary: 1. (n) a person who agitates (If we catch the incendiary who screamed "bomb" in the middle of the soccer match, we're going to put him in jail.) 2. (adj) inflammatory, causing combustion (Gas and lighter fluid are incendiary materials that should be kept out of hot storage areas.)
iniquity: (n) wickedness or sin ("Your iniquity," said the priest to the practical jokester, "will be forgiven.") injunction-(n) an order of official warning (After his house was toilet-papered for the fifth time, the mayor issued an injunction against anyone younger than 21 buying toilet paper.)
harrowing: (adj) greatly distressing, vexing (The car crash was a harrowing experience, but I have a feeling that the increase in my insurance premiums will be even more upsetting.)
nebulous: (adj) vaguely defined, cloudy (The transition between governments meant that who was actually in charge was a nebulous matter.)
ennui: (n) boredom, weariness (I feel such ennui that I don't look forward to anything, not even my birthday party.)
impassive: (adj) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it's healthy to cry every now and then.)
inexorable: (adj) incapable of being persuaded or placated (Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)
intractable: (adj) difficult to manipulate, unmanageable (There was no end in sight to the intractable conflict between the warring countries.)
distend: (v) to swell out (Years of drinking beer caused his stomach to distend.)
impudent: (adj) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn't asked him.)
iconoclast: (n) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.)
largess: (n) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.)
inveterate: (adj) stubbornly established by habit (I'm the first to admit that I'm an inveterate coffee drinker—I drink four cups a day.)
frenetic: (adj) frenzied, hectic, frantic (In the hours between night and morning, the frenetic pace of city life slows to a lull.)
efface: (v) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away (The husband was so angry at his wife for leaving him that he effaced all evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her and gave away all her belongings.)
multifarious: (adj) having great diversity or variety (This Swiss Army knife has multifarious functions and capabilities. Among other things, it can act as a knife, a saw, a toothpick, and a slingshot.)
limpid: (adj) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson's limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)
inoculate: (v) to introduce a microorganism, serum, or vaccine into an organism in order to increase immunity to illness; to vaccinate (I've feared needles ever since I was inoculated against 37 diseases at age one; but I have also never been sick.)
efficacious: (adj) effective (My doctor promised me that the cold medicine was efficacious, but I'm still sniffling.)
indolent: (adj) lazy (Why should my indolent children, who can't even pick themselves up off the couch to pour their own juice, be rewarded with a trip to the mall?) indomitable-(adj) not capable of being conquered (To be honest, Jim, my indomitable nature means I could never take orders from anyone, and especially not from a jerk like you.)
derelict: (adj) abandoned, run-down (Even though it was dangerous, the children enjoyed going to the deserted lot and playing in the derelict house.)
hapless: (adj) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)
knell: (n) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death (Echoing throughout our village, the funeral knell made the stormy day even more grim.)
modulate: (v) to pass from one state to another, especially in music (The composer wrote a piece that modulated between minor and major keys.)
elated: (adj) overjoyed, thrilled (When she found out she had won the lottery, the writer was elated.)
enthrall: (v) to charm, hold spellbound (The sailor's stories of fighting off sharks and finding ancient treasures enthralled his young son.)
deter: (v) to discourage, prevent from doing (Bob's description of scary snakes couldn't deter Marcia from traveling in the rainforests.)
evince: (v) to show, reveal (Christopher's hand-wringing and nail-biting evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)
insidious: (adj) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa's insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!) insinuate-(v) to suggest indirectly or subtly (I wish Luke and Spencer would stop insinuating that my perfect report card is the result of anything other than my superior intelligence and good work habits.)
discursive: (adj) rambling, lacking order (The professor's discursive lectures seemed to be about every subject except the one initially described.)
morose: (adj) gloomy or sullen (Jason's morose nature made him very unpleasant to talk to.)
equivocal: (adj) ambiguous, uncertain, undecided (His intentions were so equivocal that I didn't know whether he was being chivalrous or sleazy.)
grievous: (adj) injurious, hurtful; serious or grave in nature (Electrocuting the inmate without being sure of his guilt would be a truly grievous mistake.)
emend: (v) to correct or revise a written text (If my sentence is incorrect, the editor will emend what I have written.)
flaccid: (adj) limp, not firm or strong (If a plant is not watered enough, its leaves become droopy and flaccid.)
maelstrom: (n) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)
inviolable: (adj) secure from assault (Nobody was ever able to break into Batman's inviolable Batcave.)
gourmand: (n) someone fond of eating and drinking (My parents, who used to eat little more than crackers and salad, have become real gourmands in their old age.)
legerdemain: (n) deception, slight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants through customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarkable bit of legerdemain.)
dynamic: (adj) actively changing (The parents found it hard to keep up with the dynamic music scene with which their children had become very familiar.)
mores: (n) the moral attitudes and fixed customs of a group of people. (Mores change over time; many things that were tolerated in 1975 are no longer seen as being socially acceptable.)
indefatigable: (adj)incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)
forlorn: (adj) lonely, abandoned, hopeless (Even though I had the flu, my family decided to go skiing for the weekend and leave me home alone, feeling feverish and forlorn.)
elicit: (v) to bring forth, draw out, evoke (Although I asked several times where the exit was, I elicited no response from the stone-faced policeman.)
effulgent: (adj) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)
duress: (n) hardship, threat (It was only under intense duress that he, who was normally against killing, fired his gun.)
ignominious: (adj) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)
inimical: (adj) hostile, enemylike (I don't see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.)
fetter: (v) to chain, restrain (The dog was fettered to the parking meter.)
myriad: (adj) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)
disavow: (v) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for (Not wanting others to criticize her, she disavowed any involvement in the company's hiring scandal.)
diffident: (adj) shy, quiet, modest (While eating dinner with the adults, the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.)
fervent: (adj) ardent, passionate (The fervent protestors chained themselves to the building and shouted all night long.)
exhort: (v) to urge, prod, spur (Henry exhorted his colleagues to join him in protesting against the university's hiring policies.)
mundane: (adj) concerned with the world rather than with heaven, commonplace (He is more concerned with the mundane issues of day-to-day life than with spiritual topics.)
desecrate: (v) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)
invective: (n) an angry verbal attack (My mother's irrational invective against the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair green.)
insolent: (adj) rude, arrogant, overbearing (That celebrity is so insolent, making fun of his fans right to their faces.)
mercurial: (adj) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)
lithe: (adj) graceful, flexible, supple (Although the dancers were all outstanding, Jae Sun's control of her lithe body was particularly impressive.)
impertinent: (adj) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don't wish to dignify them with an answer.)
disparate: (adj) sharply differing, containing sharply contrasting elements (Having widely varying interests, the students had disparate responses toward the novel.)
extricate: (v) to disentangle (Instead of trying to mediate between my brother and sister, I extricated myself from the family tension entirely and left the house for the day.)
incorrigible: (adj) incapable of correction, delinquent (You can buy Grandma nicotine gum all you want, but I think that after sixty-five years of smoking she's incorrigible.)
hallowed: (adj) revered, consecrated (In the hallowed corridors of the cathedral, the disturbed professor felt himself to be at peace.)
dour: (adj)stern, joyless (The children feared their dour neighbor because the old man would take their toys if he believed they were being too loud.)
maverick: (n) an independent, nonconformist person (Andreas is a real maverick and always does things his own way.)
illicit: (adj) forbidden, not permitted (The fourth-grader learned many illicit words from a pamphlet that was being passed around school.)
encumber: (v) to weigh down, burden (At the airport, my friend was encumbered by her luggage, so I offered to carry two of her bags.)
epitome: (n) a perfect example, embodiment (My mother, the epitome of good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.)
interlocutor: (n) someone who participates in a dialogue or conversation (When the officials could not come to an agreement over the correct cover of the flags, the prime minister acted as an interlocutor.)
imperious: (adj) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)
impecunious: (adj) poor ("I fear he's too impecunious to take me out tonight," the bratty girl whined.)
impinge: 1. (v) to impact, affect, make an impression (The hail impinged the roof, leaving large dents.) 2. (v) to encroach, infringe (I apologize for impinging upon you like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.)
litigant: (n) someone engaged in a lawsuit (When the litigants began screaming at each other, Judge Koch ordered them to be silent.)
mawkish: (adj) characterized by sick sentimentality (Although some nineteenth- century critics viewed Dickens's writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)
discomfit: (v) to thwart, baffle (The normally cheery and playful children's sudden misery discomfited the teacher.)
effrontery: (n) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)
enmity: (n) ill will, hatred, hostility (Mark and Andy have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)
inundate: (v) to flood with abundance (Because I am the star of a new sitcom, my fans are sure to inundate me with fan mail and praise.)
desiccated: (adj) dried up, dehydrated (The skin of the desiccated mummy looked like old paper.)
inextricable: (adj) hopelessly tangled or entangled (Unless I look at the solution manual, I have no way of solving this inextricable problem.)
grandiose: (adj) on a magnificent or exaggerated scale (Margaret planned a grandiose party, replete with elephants, trapeze artists, and clowns.)
exigent: (adj) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigent need for medication, or else he will lose his sight.)
frugal: (adj) thrifty, economical (Richard is so frugal that his diet consists almost exclusively of catfish and chicken liver—the two most inexpensive foods in the store.)
indigent: (adj) very poor, impoverished (I would rather donate money to help the indigent population than to the park sculpture fund.)
expunge: (v) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax files.)
deplore: (v) to feel or express sorrow, disapproval (We all deplored the miserable working conditions in the factory.)
inure: (v)to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation (Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man to the discomforts of dirt and grime.)
diffuse: 1. (v) to scatter, thin out, break up (He diffused the tension in the room by making in a joke.) 2. (adj) not concentrated, scattered, disorganized (In her writings, she tried unsuccessfully to make others understand her diffuse thoughts.)
divulge: (v) to reveal something secret (Pressured by the press, the government finally divulged the previously unknown information.)
emote: (v) to express emotion (The director told the actor he had to emote, or else the audience would have no idea what his character was going through.)
exasperate: (v) to irritate, irk (George's endless complaints exasperated his roomate.)
inchoate: (adj) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The country's government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.)
irreverence: (n) disrespect (The irreverence displayed by the band that marched through the chapel disturbed many churchgoers.)
epistolary: (adj) relating to or contained in letters (Some people call me "Auntie's boy," because my aunt and I have such a close epistolary relationship that we write each other every day.)
expurgate: (v) to remove offensive or incorrect parts, usually of a book (The history editors expurgated from the text all disparaging and inflammatory comments about the Republican Party.)
irascible: (adj) easily angered (At the smallest provocation, my irascible cat will begin scratching and clawing.)
deft: (adj) skillful, capable (Having worked in a bakery for many years, Marcus was a deft bread maker.)
enamor: (v) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by "of" or "with" (I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem.)
exculpate: (v) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.)
euphoric: (adj) elated, uplifted (I was euphoric when I found out that my sister had given birth to twins.)
dilatory: (adj) tending to delay, causing delay (The general's dilatory strategy enabled the enemy to regroup.)
impute: (v) to ascribe, blame (The CEO imputed the many typos in the letter to his lazy secretary.)
emaciated: (adj) very thin, enfeebled looking (My sister eats a lot of pastries and chocolate but still looks emaciated.)
incisive: (adj) clear, sharp, direct (The discussion wasn't going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were.)
dissemble: (v) to conceal, fake (Not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy, she dissembled and hid her intention to sell her ailing father's stamp collection.)
felicitous: 1. (adj) well suited, apt (While his comments were idiotic and rambling, mine were felicitous and helpful.) 2. (adj) delightful, pleasing (I spent a felicitous afternoon visiting old friends.)
lurid: (adj) ghastly, sensational (Gideon's story, in which he described a character torturing his sister's dolls, was judged too lurid to be printed in the school's literary magazine.)
inept: (adj) not suitable or capable, unqualified (She proved how inept she was when she forgot three orders and spilled a beer in a customer's lap.)
demagogue: (n) a leader who appeals to a people's prejudices (The demagogue strengthened his hold over his people by blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs.)
implicit: (adj) understood but not outwardly obvious, implied (I know Professor Smith didn't actually say not to write from personal experience, but I think such a message was implicit in her instruction to use scholarly sources.)
disaffected: (adj) rebellious, resentful of authority (Dismayed by Bobby's poor behavior, the parents sent their disaffected son to a military academy to be disciplined.)
debauch: (v) to corrupt by means of sensual pleasures (An endless amount of good wine and cheese debauched the traveler.)
fetid: (adj) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
entail: (v) to include as a necessary step (Building a new fence entails tearing down the old one.)
manifold: (adj) diverse, varied (The popularity of Dante's Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)
mutable: (adj) able to change (Because fashion is so mutable, what is trendy today will look outdated in five years.)
decorous: (adj) socially proper, appropriate (The appreciative guest displayed decorous behavior toward his host.)
hedonist: (n) one who believes pleasure should be the primary pursuit of humans (Because he's such a hedonist, I knew Murray would appreciate the 11 cases of wine I bought him for his birthday.)
intrepid: (adj) brave in the face of danger (After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption, the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.)
linchpin: (n) something that holds separate parts together (The linchpin in the prosecution's case was the hair from the defendant's head, which was found at the scene of the crime.)
magnanimous: (adj) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)
forsake: (v) to give up, renounce (My New Year's resolution is to forsake smoking and drinking.)
iridescent: (adj) showing rainbow colors (The bride's large diamond ring was iridescent in the afternoon sun.)
fecund: (adj) fruitful, fertile (The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)
fallacious: (adj) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
defunct: (adj) no longer used or existing (They planned to turn the defunct schoolhouse into a community center.)
forbearance: (n) patience, restraint, toleration (The doctor showed great forbearance in calming down the angry patient who shouted insults at him.)
fraught: (adj) (usually used with "with") filled or accompanied with (Her glances in his direction were fraught with meaning, though precisely what meaning remained unclear.)
goad: (v) to urge, spur, incite to action (Jim may think he's not going to fight Billy, but Billy will goad Jim on with insults until he throws a punch.)
ebullient: (adj) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullient upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)
garish: (adj) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in her house with a garish gold lamé.)
harangue: 1. (n) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher's harangue about gum chewing in class before.) 2. (v) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)
flout: (v) to disregard or disobey openly (I flouted the school's dress code by wearing a tie-dyed tank top and a pair of cut-off jeans.)
eschew: (v) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)
insular: (adj) separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off (Because of the sensitive nature of their jobs, those who work for the CIA must remain insular and generally only spend time with each other.)
dissent: 1. (v) to disagree (The principal argued that the child should repeat the fourth grade, but the unhappy parents dissented.) 2. (n) the act of disagreeing (Unconvinced that the defendant was guilty, the last juror voiced his dissent with the rest of the jury.)
dogmatic: (adj) aggressively and arrogantly certain about unproved principles (His dogmatic claim that men were better than women at fixing appliances angered everyone.)
idiosyncratic: (adj) peculiar to one person; highly individualized (I know you had trouble with the last test, but because your mistakes were highly idiosyncratic, I'm going to deny your request that the class be given a new test.)
malediction: (n) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)
eclectic: (adj) consisting of a diverse variety of elements (That bar attracts an eclectic crowd: lawyers, artists, circus clowns, and investment bankers.)
gratuitous: (adj) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every morning the guy at the donut shop gives me a gratuitous helping of ketchup packets.)
disrepute: (n) a state of being held in low regard (The officer fell into disrepute after it was learned that he had disobeyed the orders he had given to his own soldiers.)
mendacious: (adj)having a lying, false character (The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)
impetuous: (adj) rash; hastily done (Hilda's hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)
intransigent: (adj) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion (The intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cream, or he would bang his head against the wall until his mother fainted from fear.)
nascent: (adj) in the process of being born or coming into existence (Unfortunately, my brilliant paper was only in its nascent form on the morning that it was due.)
malevolent: (adj)wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)
mollify: (v) to soften in temper (The police officer mollified the angry woman by giving her a warning instead of a ticket.)
impregnable: (adj) resistant to capture or penetration (Though the invaders used battering rams, catapults, and rain dances, the fortress proved impregnable and resisted all attacks.)
dirge: (n) a mournful song, especially for a funeral (The bagpipers played a dirge as the casket was carried to the cemetery.)
munificence: (n) generosity in giving (The royal family's munificence made everyone else in their country rich.)
nadir: (n) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti on my head.)
delineate: (v) to describe, outline, shed light on (She neatly delineated her reasons for canceling the project's funding.)
ethereal: (adj) heavenly, exceptionally delicate or refined (In her flowing silk gown and lace veil, the bride looked ethereal.)
inane: (adj) silly and meaningless (Some films are so inane that the psychology of the characters makes absolutely no sense.)
incessant: (adj)unending (We wanted to go outside and play, but the incessant rain kept us indoors for two days.)
hardy: (adj) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they're very hardy.)
expiate: (v) to make amends for, atone (To expiate my selfishness, I gave all my profits to charity.)
eminent: 1. (adj) distinguished, prominent, famous (Mr. Phillips is such an eminent scholar that every professor on campus has come to hear him lecture.) 2. (adj) conspicuous (There is an eminent stain on that shirt.)
fatuous: (adj) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)
debase: (v) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity.)
expedient: (adj) advisable, advantageous, serving one's self-interest (In his bid for reelection, the governor made an expedient move by tabling all controversial legislation.)
implacable: (adj) incapable of being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: once you shun Grandma's cooking, she is totally implacable.)
florid: (adj) flowery, ornate (The writer's florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)
inquisitor: (n) one who inquires, especially in a hostile manner (The inquisitor was instructed to knock on every door in town in order to find the fugitive.)
egregious: (adj) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)
morass: (n) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses (When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.)
deride: (v) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign student's accent.)
latent: (adj) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund's dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people's shoes.)
fickle: (adj) shifting in character, inconstant (In Greek dramas, the fickle gods help Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)
denigrate: (v) to belittle, diminish the opinion of (The company decided that its advertisements would no longer denigrate the company's competitors.)
exorbitant: (adj) excessive (Her exorbitant praise made me blush and squirm in my seat.)
indignation: (n) anger sparked by something unjust or unfair (I resigned from the sorority because of my indignation at its hazing of new members.)
grandiloquence: (n) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)
immutable: (adj) not changeable (The laws of physics are immutable and constant.)
hackneyed: (adj) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear "I love you" so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)
demure: (adj) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)
exult: (v) to rejoice (When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exulted by dancing and singing through the school's halls.)
dither: (v) to be indecisive (Not wanting to offend either friend, he dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)
judicious: (adj) having or exercising sound judgment (When the judicious king decided to compromise rather than send his army to its certain death, he was applauded.)
execrable: (adj) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrable that it makes me sick.)
intimation: (n)an indirect suggestion (Mr. Brinford's intimation that he would soon pass away occurred when he began to discuss how to distribute his belongings among his children.)
ingenuous: (adj) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it's hard to believe he's not speaking from his own heart.)
idolatrous: (adj) excessively worshipping one object or person (Xena's idolatrous fawning over the band—following them on tour, starting their fan club, filming their documentary—is really beginning to get on my nerves.)
dissonance: (n) lack of harmony or consistency (Though the president of the company often spoke of the company as reliant solely upon its workers, her decision to increase her own salary rather than reward her employees revealed a striking dissonance between her alleged beliefs and her actions.)
licentious: (adj) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians.)
emollient: (adj) soothing (This emollient cream makes my skin very smooth.)
disdain: 1. (v) to scorn, hold in low esteem (Insecure about their jobs, the older employees disdained the recently hired ones, who were young and capable.) 2. (n) scorn, low esteem (After learning of his immoral actions, Justine held Lawrence in disdain.)
maxim: (n) a common saying expressing a principle of conduct (Miss Manners's etiquette maxims are both entertaining and instructional.)
lavish: 1. (adj) given without limits (Because they had worked very hard, the performers appreciated the critic's lavish praise.) 2. (v) to give without limits (Because the performers had worked hard, they deserved the praise that the critic lavished on them.)
diaphanous: (adj) light, airy, transparent (Sunlight poured in through the diaphanous curtains, brightening the room.)
genial: (adj) friendly, affable (Although he's been known to behave like a real jerk, I would say that my brother is an overall genial guy.)
fractious: (adj) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn't tired, his fractious behavior—especially his decision to crush his cheese and crackers all over the floor—convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)
insatiable: (adj) incapable of being satisfied (My insatiable appetite for melons can be a real problem in the winter.)
forage: (v) to graze, rummage for food (When we got lost on our hiking trip, we foraged for berries and nuts in order to survive.)
manifest: 1. (adj) easily understandable, obvious (When I wrote the wrong sum on the chalkboard, my mistake was so manifest that the entire class burst into laughter.) 2. (v) to show plainly (His illness first manifested itself with particularly violent hiccups.)
maudlin: (adj) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)

Start Studying!

Deck Info

Number of cards 201